


Every Second Counts

by AboutFalling



Category: Booksmart (2019)
Genre: Angst, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hamy, One Shot, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22685206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AboutFalling/pseuds/AboutFalling
Summary: Home from Botswana for the holidays, Amy has been avoiding Hope all week. Even though they've been in contact ever since they both left on their trips abroad, Amy doesn't know what to class their relationship as. Are they an item? Does Hope even feel that way about her? What if they hang out, and everything is strange? But now, with Hope at her door, Amy is faced with confronting her dilemma, and everything that comes with it.Inspired by the song Bags by Clairo
Relationships: Amy/Hope (Booksmart)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 87





	Every Second Counts

_"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit"_

Hope was at the door, and Amy hit the panic button. It was cool. It was fine. It wasn't like she was avoiding Hope for the entire week she'd been back in town for the holidays.

Molly laughed at her, because of course she did. After all, was it not Amy that slapped her in the face and scolded her into shooting her shot with Nick? But then Nick had ended up with Ryan, and Molly and Amy had ended up fighting, and then Amy had puked on Hope.

She tried not to think of that. They had smoothed things over. Right? Right?? Well, they'd been talking on WhatsApp ever since the day Amy left for Botswana. But now, she was outside the door. Ha. Hahahaha. _Great!_

"Amy honey, get your butt out here! There is a very pretty girl at our door and it's disturbing our hydrangeas. Your father is outside, waving his arms around and probably scaring that poor child."

Just then, Amy could hear the faintest shrill sound of "Mydrangeas! Mydrangeas!"

"Does he really have to name everything he owns?" The question felt more stated than something that required an answer, but her mother obliged anyway.

"Well, yes. I've tried to tell him that it'll make him too attached when they inevitably go kaput because he never knows how to take care of things, but you know what he's like."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Just… Tell her I'm not here. Tell her I'm at Molly's" 

"I would, but we're headed out and I'm leaving the light on because you're being ridiculous. You're supposed to be out of the closet and here you are, hiding in a literal closet. Plus, I think she already checked there."

Amy gave a frustrated sigh. "OKAY, I'm coming out."

"Well, honey, you already did that. Now is supposed to be the easy part."

"Sure." Amy said with a hint of sarcasm as she went down stairs and opened the door

The look on Hope's face as Amy opened the door was the one she always gave. Non-committal, but somehow as if she was ready to fight at any given moment. Amy found it difficult to read, but she liked it about her.

"Hey!" Amy said, smiling. She hoped that she didn't look as nervous as she felt, but took Hope's smirk in reply as a sign that she could let the knot in her chest un-tighten a little bit.

"Well, it's pretty obvious where you get your crazy from" Hope laughed, gesturing over to Amy's dad, who was now openly weeping and watering his perfectly healthy looking hydrangeas furiously.

"Haha, yeah. He's… My dad. Very sweet once you get to know him, but it took him until middle school to even open up to Molly. It was actually kinda shocking when he was the one who suggested that she and I were dating."

"Oh my god, he thought what?" She laughed again, and Amy finally saw the funny side of her parents thinking that her and her best friend were together.

"Yeah, but then you came here before I left and then Molly spilled the beans after I told her."

"So they know that…?" Hope pointed back and forth between her and Amy, though Amy suddenly found herself asking what exactly she meant by it, because they had never explicitly stated what they were.

"They know that we made out and then I puked on you? Not really. Amy left that part out."

"Oh…" Hope replied, looking confused. 

"But what did you come over for?"

"Well, I leave tomorrow to head to Switzerland, I was hoping we could hang out."

"Um… My parents are headed out…"

Just then, Amy's Mom came around the corner and through the door, headed the other way, collecting her husband as they headed toward the car.

"Amy, we'll be back in a couple hours. I trust you to look after the house while we're gone. Don't let any raccoons in the house, they may steal something."

Hope laughed again, explaining that they would never, and Amy's mother shut the door in front of them.

"Uh, hey, I have to go check something, why don't you sit and find something on TV?"

"Uh, sure. I guess."

Amy barely heard her answer before turning and rushing to her room, pulling her phone off the desk and texting Molly.

* * *

_**She’s here**_.

 _Hi, best friend! Whoever could you mean?_ ;)

Molly did this a lot when she was playing coy. Of course, Amy knew this, as she more often than not went along with it, but it didn’t annoy her any less in this moment, now that she was on the receiving end of it.

_**You know, and I know you know.** _

_You mean Hope? Oh, well… That’s unfortunate. I wonder who told her you were home? It’s not like you told me you were avoiding her or anything…_

_**What do I do, Molly?** _

_Well, what do two friends with undeniable chemistry but an unfortunate romantic interlude do when they see each other for the first time in six months?_

**_I don’t know, everytime I see her, I remember I puked on her!_ **

_And she still came to see you the next day, didn’t she?_

_**She could have pitied me.** _

_She was gonna let you have sex with her until you decided puking was more fun, but keep telling yourself that._

_**Uh, how do you know?** _

_Because I know you, Amy. You're brilliant. You're funny, you're a ray of sunshine. You’re amazing. And Hope sees that. Hope sees you. She's attracted to that, She doesn't act like it, but that’s just Hope. It’s not like you have Margot Robbie on your couch waiting for you. It's just Hope. Go out there and get her. You can do this._

Molly had a point. But why did she think Amy was into Margot Robbie? Strange. They had never talked about her. Amy screwed her face up and replied:

_**...Okay.** _

_Good! The force is with you, Obi-Wan_

_**...That’s not how it goes, Molly.** _

_I’m pretty sure it’s going to be. ;)_

Amy got up from her bed and got ready to go back down, but just as she got to her door, another text came through from Molly.

_And remember:_

There was a photo attached, with what looked like a London Subway sign. Amy was confused at first, but then, she looked closer.

It was a London Subway sign, but instead of "Mind the gap", it said "Mind the Butthole"

 _"Sorry. Had to._ " Came another reply, with a laugh and a wink emoji.

Amy would have laughed, but the fact that she was nervous only made her regret telling Molly anything, ever.

Ten minutes later, Amy was half watching TV, while Hope was eating out of a movie sized box of M&Ms. They wouldn't look at each other, but Amy would catch a glimpse of Hope's eyes pointed in her direction, and then when she returned the favor, Hope would look back at the screen.

"So, how's backpacking?" Amy cut the tension first, hoping that it would ease her nerves. It didn't, but at least there wouldn't be silence. Surely Hope wasn't feeling the same? Hope never got nervous in class. She was too busy being a smart ass, or completely disassociative.

"Fine. Heavy. I've had plenty of couches to crash on. Which is why none of them have been yours."

"Oh. Oh cool. I'm enjoying Botswana. The Lions haven't been around much lately, which means I'm doing my job, I guess"

"Well, someone has to, right? You did always like to follow rules. I'm sure that that's perfect for you, Nerd." 

Hope was smiling. Amy liked her smile, but it wasn't the same way she liked Ryan's. Ryan was different. She was always something that Amy hoped would happen. Hope had happened, in that weird way of speaking. Somehow, that made it worse. Ryan gave her butterflies, seeing Hope made Amy happy. It was the first time something like this had actually happened, and Amy simply didn't know how to react.

She then realized that she was staring, and quickly snapped back to reality.

"You okay?" Said Hope, tilting her eyebrow.

"Yes!" Amy laughed nervously, turning her attention back to the TV. They were watching some weird reality show about people who had to interact on a social platform to win the game. It sounded goofy, but was quite heartwarming, watching the players make friends they probably would never make outside of the game. 

Amy thought that, by the same token, maybe this wouldn't have happened if not for that party at Graduation, and found herself both thanking and cursing the decisions that landed them here.

They watched another episode before Hope turned toward Amy full on now, with her head resting on her hand, which was propped up on the seat cushion.

"So… That night. Did it actually mean anything to you?

"I don't… know."

The trouble is, that Amy _did_ know. She had been hooked up on it all summer. She almost didn't come back home because of it. She wanted to get to know more of the Hope that she'd met that night, wanted to make up for the incident, wanted… Everything. But what did Hope want? That was the important thing. And Hope never let anyone know what she wanted.

"Okay, cool." Hope took the remote and pressed play on another episode, exclaiming that one of the people on the show was insanely hot. Amy laughed, and they went back to their routine.

It was an hour later when Hope turned to her again, this time scooting a bit closer to Amy than before.

"It's weird. I see what you're doing. You see what I'm doing… What do you want?"

 _Oh god, oh fuck. What?_ Amy couldn't believe it. She knew Hope was definitely more direct than she was, but what was Amy going to say? How do you tell someone you like them? She'd never done this before! Was there some sort of etiquette? Holy shit, what was she going to do? There couldn't be, right? It always happened differently in the movies, and yet so formulaic. 

She was afraid of sounding stupid or desperate if she went on some sort of dramatic monologue about how, even in jail, Amy was happy, and sort confused, that they'd made out, and then equally as embarrassed about what happened after. Basically everything she still felt. 

In the end, she thought of the first thing that came to mind.

"Cheetos." She blurted, "First cupboard to the left in the kitchen."

"Okay. You could've gotten them yourself." Hope got up and went to the kitchen, pausing the TV on her way.

Amy saw her turn the corner and took a deep breath. 

_"Great._ " She thought, " _You're blowing it. Good job, Amy! Now she's gonna think you associate her with frigging cheetos. She's a girl, not your maid. What the hell?"_

She shook her head as Hope came back and sat down, bag of cheetos in hand, grabbing a few for herself before passing the bag to Amy.

"These are good." Said Hope, not taking her eyes off the TV.

"My favorite. My mom likes them too." Amy looked over in Hope's direction, knowing Hope wouldn't do the same. It was getting sort of old now, but they were comfortable in it, and that made everything better.

"It's… Kinda lonely though." Hope looked over again at Amy, pausing the screen again

"What is?" Amy asked, confused. 

"Backpacking. That's why I came over here. I wanted to know something."

"What did you want to know?" 

"Oh, I already know it."

"What?"

Hope had made this sort of generalization the night of the party, and it was only more difficult for Amy to understand. How did she know what she wanted without Amy knowing? It made no sense.

"Well I asked if the party meant something. You said you didn't know. Then you were deadass staring at me. I asked me what you wanted. You said Cheetos. It's nice to know you like them more than me."

"Well, I…" Amy was taken aback. Was she hearing this correctly? "Okay, I lied."

"So you weren't going to tell me you liked me?"

"No it's not… I don't know how, exactly. I'd never done it."

"Nerd."

"That's kind of unfair. How many girlfriends have you had?"

"Beside the point, you're a nerd. I've told people I like them. See what I meant by you being meek?"

"I was just scared. I didn't know if that night meant anything to you."

"Well next time a girl comes over to your house the night before she goes to another country, tell her you like her."

Hope got up, grabbing her coat off the arm of the chair and headed for the door, not bothering to turn off the TV.

Amy was devastated. She looked down at her shoes, almost resigned to let Hope walk out. But then, she found herself getting up. It was the same sort of feeling she'd had at the party. 

A pit in her stomach, whether full of despair or wanting, she wasn't sure. Hope had almost put her hand on the door, before Amy caught up to it and grabbed it.

"I like you." Amy said, and kissed her.

The kiss was a lot less fervent than that night, this time more tender and sweet. It felt right, it felt safe, rather than defiant, as it had been at the party. Even still, Amy made sure Hope was kissing back before she let the kiss linger, still feeling the last twinge of nerves.

"Aww." 

In the heat of the moment, neither had realized that Amy's parents were standing in the door. With the sound of Amy's father, they broke apart.

"How long were you guys standing there?" Amy exclaimed, embarrassed.

"The whole time. Your father wanted to take a picture. I told him to let you have your moment."

"Uh, Mom. This is Hope."

"Oh, we have high hopes for her." Amy's dad had a beaming grin on his face.

Hope split between Amy's parents, and Amy followed, watching her down the path.

"Later, nerd!" Hope called back, walking back toward her house.

Amy came back in the house, smiling. What was she even nervous about? How had she missed something that was that obvious? It made her feel silly, but she put that aside for now. She had finally replaced Puke night with an honest to god bona-fide kiss with the girl she liked. It was cool, it was good.

"So… how did it go?"

Obviously, her parents were full of questions. How long had they talked, and what about, and what was on TV, and why there were cheetos on the floor. Amy guessed that she dropped the bag on the way to beat Hope to the door, but she would clean that up later. 

For now, she had a girlfriend.


End file.
